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Citation
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Judgment date
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| January 1993 |
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An advocate cannot withdraw informally; court leave and consideration of 'sufficient cause' are required before setting aside default judgments.
Civil procedure — Advocate’s withdrawal — Formal leave of court required; informal cessation of retainer improper. Default/ex parte judgment — Setting aside — Court must consider 'sufficient cause' under Order 35 Rule 5. Costs — retrial ordered due to procedural unfairness caused by former advocates.
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29 January 1993 |
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Specific performance ordered for proven sale of land; alternative refund improper absent impossibility; no retrial despite defendant not heard.
Contract — sale of land — part performance and proof of agreement by payment and signed offer; Remedy — specific performance preferred; alternative refund inappropriate absent impossibility; procedural fairness — failure to hear defendant not fatal where pleaded defenses bound to fail.
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28 January 1993 |
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Identification evidence upheld; conviction and sentence for aggravated robbery against the appellant affirmed.
Criminal law – Aggravated robbery – Identification evidence – Reliability and opportunity to observe – Corroboration not required where independent witness supports complainant – Recent possession and associated items – Sentence appropriateness for brutal robbery.
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25 January 1993 |
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Court disallowed a combined lump-sum award, requiring proof of net pecuniary loss and awarding adjusted damages with interest.
Damages — improper single lump-sum award combining pecuniary and non-pecuniary heads; requirement to prove and quantify net pecuniary loss; exemplary damages may be reflected in compensatory award; interest on altered appellate award runs from issue of writ.
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21 January 1993 |
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Prolonged absence without the required medical certificate justified dismissal; reinstatement was inappropriate after a lengthy delay.
Employment law – dismissal for unauthorised absence – breach of contractual requirement for medical certificate – effect of regulatory non-compliance on dismissal – discretion to order reinstatement versus damages – late contradictory employer correspondence irrelevant to an already effective termination.
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21 January 1993 |
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A trial court must not substitute an expert handwriting opinion for its own conclusion; conviction quashed, other convictions upheld and re-sentenced.
Criminal law – Espionage – Expert handwriting evidence as guide not substitute for court's conclusion – Misreliance on expert opinion vitiates conviction; corroboration and sufficiency of evidence for communication and information-gathering offences; re-sentencing after quashing a count.
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20 January 1993 |
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Doubt over provocation resolved for the appellant; murder conviction quashed and substituted with manslaughter sentence.
Criminal law – Murder v. manslaughter – Provocation and cooling-off period – Appellate substitution of conviction and re-sentencing.
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19 January 1993 |
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A stay of judgment suspends doubts about the appellant’s nationality; he must not be treated as a prohibited immigrant pending appeal.
Judgment stay – effect on citizenship questions – doubts as to nationality held in abeyance pending appeal – appellant not to be treated as prohibited immigrant pending appeal – procedural objections on personal service not decided – government non‑harassment undertaking.
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14 January 1993 |
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Appellate court remitted the case after finding the trial judge wrongly refused to consider defendants’ scheme and directed reconsideration with timelines.
Civil procedure – appellate review and remittal – trial judge’s duty to consider rival implementation schemes – discretion as to timing of restitution – refusal to supervise running litigation – appointment of auditors and computation of compensation to handover date.
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12 January 1993 |
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Whether verbal provocation or self-defence can reduce a murder conviction where retaliation was disproportionate and there was time to cool down.
Criminal law — Provocation — Whether verbal insults amount to provocation reducing murder to manslaughter — Disproportionate retaliation and time to cool off — Self-defence not established; conviction for murder sustained.
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6 January 1993 |
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Verbal provocation did not reduce murder to manslaughter; conviction and 25‑year sentence upheld.
Criminal law — Murder — Provocation — Whether verbal remarks reducing relationship tension can constitute provocation — cooling time and proportionality of retaliation; admissibility of Warned and Caution statement; mitigation at sentencing.
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6 January 1993 |
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Failed provocation did not reduce murder to manslaughter; 25-year sentence upheld on appeal.
Criminal law – Murder – Provocation – Whether verbal statements and delay created sudden provocation – Proportionality of retaliation – Self-defence – Mitigating circumstances at sentencing – Appeal against sentence.
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6 January 1993 |
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Seller liable for refund and contractual damages; court rejects dollar conversion of Kwacha award and refers damages assessment to Deputy Registrar.
Sale of Goods Act 1893 – breach for failure to deliver – measure of damages as difference between contract price and market price at time goods should have been delivered or when action should reasonably have been brought; rejection of foreign-currency conversion of Kwacha obligations; no double recovery for conversion and breach; refund with interest; counterclaim dismissed for remoteness.
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6 January 1993 |